Friend or Foe
by DreamWvr73
Summary: 5 in the Min & Johnny Series-- Johnny decides to take a trip home.


The alarm went off at exactly 5 00 am and Johnny reached across his fiancée and turned it off, it was another day of putting out fires and heart attack victims. He yawned and rubbed his face before lying back down; he still had a good hour and a half before he had to leave for work. He sighed and stared up at the ceiling, he wanted to go back to sleep and forget all about work. _What am I saying?_ Johnny sat up in bed and shook his fiancée, that was the first time in the over 5 years of being a fireman that he didn't want to go to work. 

"Min, wake up."

She rolled and looked up at the dark form that was shaking her. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to go to work, I've been a fireman for 5 and half years and I don't want to go to work."

Min was more awake now and she reached over and turned on her little reading lamp. 

"What's wrong with that?" The bright light made her squint and it took her eyes a few seconds to adjust to the light, Johnny looked genuinely distressed. 

"Honey it's all right, sometimes people get tired of their jobs no matter how much they love them and need to take a break, when was the last time you had a vacation?"

"Um…actually I've never taken vacation time, except when you got attacked."

Min looked at him and shook her head. "Well no wonder! I think you need a vacation, a week or two someplace else will give you time to rest and rejuvenate."

Johnny rubbed his hands over his face and sighed. "Actually I think you may be right, I have been feeling rather burned out lately."

"And the fact you were working all of those 48 hour shifts last week including your two days off probably didn't help."

"Yeah but the money will help fatten up our wedding fund."

Min shook her head and touched his face, a small smile on her lips. "The money isn't important, you are. I really think we should take a couple of weeks and get away from work and wedding plans and just relax."

He nodded and touched the hand that was lying against his cheek. "All right, when I go in this morning I'll talk to Captain Stanley." 

"I think that's a good idea." Min turned around and looked at the clock, it read 5 15. "So what time do you have to shower and all that?"

"6, we still got plenty of time before I have to get up."

"For what?"

He scooted closer to her and put his arms around her neck and kissed her. Min opened her eyes and looked at him, his dark brown eyes were smoldering. Min knew that look all too well, she raised an eyebrow and smiled as she turned over and turned off the lamp.

Johnny had stopped off at the bagel shop and picked up a dozen bagels and a pound of cream cheese, it was 7 30 when he strolled into the stationhouse and set the two brown paper sacks down in the center of the table.

"Here you go, breakfast is served."

"What is this Gage, donuts?"

Johnny took out plates and a few butter knives and set them down on the table. "No Chet, its bagels and cream cheese."

Chet looked in the bag of bagels and took out a blueberry one. "Probably trying to poison us."

"Now why would I want to do that?"

Roy took out a bagel and the container of cream cheese. "That's true Chet, if there is anyone that should worry about poison its you."

The men started to laugh and Chet gave Roy a dirty look. "Hey nobody laughs at the Phantom!"

Johnny saw his chance as he cut open his bagel; Captain Stanley was sipping his coffee.  "Say Cap I was wondering, can you arrange for me to get some vacation time?"

"Vacation time, _you _Johnny? You want to take some time off?" He waited until everyone got a bagel before he helped himself to one. "I don't think it would be a problem, I'll talk to headquarters and let you know. How much time do you want?"

"Two weeks."

"Going to go somewhere Gage?"

"Thinking about it Chet, but Min and I haven't talked about where we would go yet."

"So how goes the wedding plans?" 

Johnny took the cream cheese from Roy and began spreading in on his wheat bagel. "They're going pretty good Marco, there are still a few minor things we need to do but all the big stuff is taken care of."

"Which church is it going to be at?"

"St. Michaels."

"That's a nice church."

"Yeah it is, big too." He looked around at all of the men at the table. "You all are going to come right?"

"Sure we are Gage, we wouldn't miss it for the world! We even have a bet going as to whether or not you're going to pass out at the altar!"

Johnny looked at Chet. "You're kidding right?"

The wicked fireman shook his head. "Nope, we even have it broken down into minutes."

Johnny looked around and all the men were nodding their heads, he looked at Roy. "Are you in on this little bet too?"

Roy shook his head. "Hey don't look at me; I have no part in this."

"And what if I _don't_ pass out at the altar?"

"Then you get the money; call it a wedding gift from all of us."

Johnny crossed his arms over his chest. "How much money are we talking about here?"

"Hold on let me go get my notebook." Chet got up from the table and went into the locker room, everyone heard the sound of the slamming metal door and he came back with a small notebook, he opened it and flipped a few pages. "Let's see, as of last week there is 250 dollars in the "Will he or Won't he?" fund."

The groom's face dropped and his jaw hit the table with a loud thud. "250 dollars?"

Chet nodded. "So what do you say Gage, do we have a bet or not?"

Johnny smiled at Chet wickedly and shook his outstretched hand. "You're on! I'm going to win that money."

"Ha! The only thing you're going to win is a trip to Rampart when you fall to the floor and knock yourself out!"

"We'll just see won't we?" Johnny lifted his head up; he was totally confident that the money was going to be his, his picked up his bagel and started eating it.

Min was sitting at her desk going over the wedding plans; it was exactly three months to the wedding. She looked over at the clock in her office and it read 12 20, she was getting impatient; Johnny was supposed to have called her at noon. 

"He's probably waiting to hear back from headquarters."

She picked up the scissors and began cutting a photo out of a bride's magazine, it was a picture of the kind of veil that she wanted and she just had to show it to Daisy. The phone rang and she nearly cut the picture in half, she picked up the phone on the second ring.

"Skidz."

"Hey Min it's me."  
She put down her scissors and leaned back in her chair. "Hey, so what's the good word?"

There was a pause on the other end of the phone. "It's been approved! I am officially on vacation for two whole weeks as of 6 pm tonight."

"Yes! All right! That is _great_ Honey, now we need to talk about where we are going to go."

"Actually I have an idea about that."

"You do? Where?"

"I was thinking that maybe we could go to Wyoming."

"Wyoming, why?"

There was another pause on the phone and Min could hear Johnny sigh. "Because that's where my mother lives."

Min was still leaning back in her chair, she nearly fell backwards. "Your mother? But you've never-"

"I know I've never talked about my family, but I think that it's time that I did."

"Don't feel bad Johnny, I haven't exactly told you everything about my family either."

"I think tonight we should have a talk."

Johnny had gotten home at his usual time and went into the bedroom to change, Min was waiting for him there, she was lying on her side reading a book. As soon as she heard the keys she put her book aside. 

"Hi."

"Hey." He started unbuttoning his shirt and she got off the bed and stood in front of him. "Need any help?"

She smiled as she pulled his shirt tale out of his pants.

"Just what did you have in mind?"

Min lifted up his shirt and put her arms around his waist. "Oh all kinds of wicked things, but they can wait."

Johnny laughed and hugged his fiancée. "Yeah it can wait; I think we need to have a talk right now." He took her by the hand and sat her down on the bed. 

"Just let me change."

He took off his uniform and pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, he sat down on the bed beside her.  

"I guess the first thing you want to know is why I never mentioned my family before."

"Not really, like I said I haven't been completely honest to you about mine either. I figured eventually the subject would come up."

Johnny rubbed the back of his neck. "My family has always been a difficult subject to talk about."

Min reached between them and touched his hand. "Believe me I know exactly what you mean."

"I guess the best place to start would be with my parents."

"Okay."

Johnny sighed and squeezed her hand. "I told you that I'm half Seminole, right?"

"Right, you mentioned that before."

"I got it from my father. He was full-blooded Seminole; his name was Thomas, Thomas Evan Gage."

"Is he still alive?"

He shook his head slowly. "No, he died when I was 13. He was a construction worker and there was some sort of accident at the site. I never really knew exactly what had happened."

"What about your mother?"

"She lives in Hollister, Wyoming, it's a little town outside of Cheyenne."

"What's her name?"

"Gloria Roderick Gage."

Min smiled suddenly. "Oh so _that's_ where you got your middle name from, I had always wondered."

Johnny wrinkled his nose. "Terrible isn't it? My mother had this wonderful idea of giving me her last name as a middle name."

"When was the last time you saw your mother?"

"Saw, it's been over 7 years but I talk to her every couple of weeks."

"Do you get along with her?"

Johnny shrugged his shoulders. "That's a tough question to answer; my mother is from Connecticut, the name Roderick means money and power there. She sees things very differently, she always has and sometimes that made things tough between us when I was growing up. I have often wondered exactly how it was that she ended up with my dad, to go from a high society place like Connecticut to the woods of Wyoming."

"So you don't get along with her?"

"It's not that I don't love her and respect her, I do but she isn't the easiest person to get along with sometimes."

"So how did your parents meet?"

"She said that they met in Connecticut, he was working at her riding club as a stable hand. They met during the summer and by the fall she had a little surprise for him."

"You?"

He nodded his head. "Me, he did the right thing and they got married and went back to Wyoming."

"No brothers or sister?"

"Nope, just me." His lips pulled back in a most charming grin and it made Min shake her head.

"They probably couldn't take another child!" She smiled wickedly at him as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Oh ha, ha, ha! You think you are smart don't you?"

"So you want to go to Wyoming to see your mother?"

He nodded his head. "I told her all about you, I would like you to meet her."

"What about the wedding?"

"I didn't tell her about that, I wanted to tell her in person."

Min nodded her head. "If that's where you want to go then we'll go."

Johnny hugged his girl hard. "Thank you, I promise that this is going to be a great vacation."

Min sighed as she returned his embrace. "I certainly hope so."

Johnny fastened his seat belt and smoothed it around him. He was excited about seeing Wyoming again, he hadn't been home in a long time and he couldn't wait to see the beautiful state he had grown up in. He sighed as he leaned back in his seat and reached down for his fiancée's hand, holding it in his. He hoped everything was going to be all right, his mother's reaction to Min worried him. He loved his mother deeply but he also knew that she had a streak of snootiness that was still in her Connecticut blue blood despite all the years she had spent in Wyoming. The sound of the plane engine starting to hum made Min's hand suddenly get stiff.

"Don't like to fly?" He opened his eyes and looked at his fiancée, she looked a little pale.

Min turned to him, sweating and she wiped her face. "It isn't my favorite thing; I'm not too crazy about heights."

"They don't bother me a bit."

"Of course heights don't bother you, how many rescues have you done over the side of a building or high up on some ledge?"

"More than I care to recall."

"See that's exactly what I mean, you're probably more in the air then you are on the ground."

The flight attendant closed the door and picked up the mike, she announced that the flight was about to begin and that it was going to take four hours to get to Cheyenne. The flight attendant, whose name was Leslie, then started the safety lecture. Min sighed and leaned on Johnny's arm.

"Four hours, joy. What are we going to do for the next four hours?"

Johnny kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair. "Well you haven't told me about your family yet, it'd be a good way to pass the time."

Min looked around the plane, there was hardly anyone in their section and that suited her just fine she didn't want her dirty laundry to be exposed for all eyes to see. Leslie finished her lecture and the plane started to move.

"Maybe we should wait until we are in the air."

The plane turned and Min looked out the window, she could see the runway beneath them and squeezed Johnny's hand. 

"Relax Min; it's going to be okay."

"I know, I just never liked this part."

The plane started to move and Min squeezed her eyes shut for a moment knowing what was coming. She could tell by the high pitched humming that the plane was speeding up. She looked out the window and watched as the scenery started to blend into one long line, there was a deep roaring sound and the plane was suddenly in the air. The pressure was intense as it pushed the couple back against their seats; they were almost lying on their backs as the plane climbed to the right altitude. As soon as it did the pressure was gone as the plane had evened out.

"That is the worst part; it feels like a big hand pressing you down."

"I think it's neat." He took off his seatbelt and adjusted his seat a little. "So tell me about your family."

"If you really want to know I'll tell you."

He had his eyes closed. "I really want to know."

She gave his hand another squeeze. "I guess I'll start from the beginning."

"That's always the best place to start."

Min sighed. "Do you remember that picture on my desk of my parents? How I said that they only took that one photo together?"

"Yeah, you told me you would tell me the story later."

"Well later has come. My parents were together for about six months, shortly after that photo was taken they broke up. My mother told me that although she loved Cooper dearly, it just didn't work out between them. He met Bo's mother and the two of them must have really fallen hard for each other, they were married within a few weeks and Diane became pregnant with my brother. It was shortly afterwards that my mother also found out that she was pregnant."

"Busy guy."

"The two women were six weeks apart, I was supposed to have been born first but there was some sort of complication and Bo ended up being born early on April 8th. He was a preemie and I was born April 12th."

"So that's why you two are only four days apart."

"After I was born, Cooper and my mother had made an arrangement; I was supposed to go live with them, I guess my mom decided that she couldn't handle a little baby. The plan was that after they got back from Phoenix they were coming to Atlanta to get me."

Min had stopped talking and her silence had gotten Johnny's attention, he opened his eyes and turned to ask her why she had stopped. He saw that she had her hand across her eyes and he could hear her sniffling.

"Are you all right?" He let go of her hand and touched her face.

"Yeah I'm okay." She wiped her face and cleared her throat.

"So what happened? Did they come back for you?"

She shook her head slowly. "The plane they were in crashed, everyone was killed instantly." She wiped her eyes again, her voice thick with tears. "Bo was taken in by Uncle Jesse and his wife Martha and I stayed with my mother."

"How old were you?"

"Not very old, and neither was Bo."

"How did your mother take his death?"

"Hard, I think them breaking up was tough to deal with but his death made her very unstable mentally. I don't think she could handle it and she certainly couldn't handle me. I often wonder how different things might have been if that plane hadn't crashed."

"What do you mean, different how?"

Min had stopped crying and turned to look at him, her face was serious. "My mother abandoned me when I was 5, I woke up one morning and she was gone."

Johnny looked at her with wide eyes. "She just left you?"

"Yeah, just like that, her room was totally clean. I stayed up for two straight days waiting for her to come back but she never did."

"Do you hate your mom for leaving you?"

She shook her head and smiled at him. "No, despite the fact I went through hell I wouldn't change any of it."

"Why?"

"If I hadn't gone through all that bad I wouldn't have the good now, I wouldn't have my brother and my cousins and most of all I wouldn't have you." She reached out and touched his face. "I wouldn't change that for anything."

He smiled and took her hand; he kissed it gently and held it. "Did you ever see your mother again?"

"15 years later, I got this phone call out of the blue; I was living in this little apartment close to the bar I had been working in since I was 16. She begged me to come see her."

"Why?"

"She was dying and wanted to see her baby girl."

"Did you go?"

Min nodded her head. "It wasn't easy but I went. She looked so old despite the fact she was still pretty young; she told me how sorry she was for leaving. According to her it was all my Grandmother Eleanor's idea to leave me."

"Why would she want your mother to leave?"

"Because I was a punishment from God, a bastard child that was not meant to come into this world."

"That's ridiculous."

"I know, she told me everything that day, why my name was Duke, about my father, everything. She said that she was sorry for denying me my family for so long and she wanted me to pack up and go to Hazzard to find them."

"Did you ever meet your grandmother?"

"Once, and believe me that was the last time I want to see that old witch. She came to Hazzard to get a ring from this little jewelry box my mother gave me. She was cold and mean, she called Bo a bastard and his mother a tramp, it wasn't pretty. I told her to get out and never come back."

"You haven't seen her since?"

"No, and I don't expect to ever lay eyes on her again."

"That's too bad that she rejects her own granddaughter."

Min sighed and shook her head. "It's all right, I don't need her or any of the others, I never have."

"Others? There are more?"

"My mother had two sisters and a brother; I've never seen any of them."

"And you don't want to right?"

"No I don't. The only family I have is Bo, Luke, Daisy, Enos and you, that's it."

"Excuse me."

The couple looked up and saw the smiling face of their flight attendant. "We are getting ready to serve lunch now, what would you like to drink?"

"What are the choices?"

Leslie smiled at Johnny widely. "Juice, milk, soda."

"Milk please."

Min raised an eyebrow. "The same for me too."

The young redheaded woman saw the rock on Min's finger and her smile was gone. "Milk for two, I'll bring it along with the Salisbury steak."

"Thank you." Min tried to be polite but the young woman had flared up her sense of jealously, she was eyeing her fireman.

Johnny started to snicker as soon as the young woman was far enough away not to hear it. "Friendly wasn't she?"

"Yeah a little _too_ friendly."

Leslie returned with two trays and two milks, she handed them each a tray and left. Min took off the cover and looked at her lunch; it was Salisbury steak, salad, cake and a roll.

"Looks harmless enough."

Johnny took a bite. "Tastes all right."

Min started cutting hers. "So your mother is going to pick us up?"

"That's what she said on the phone, are you nervous about meeting her?"

"A little."

"I'm sure it'll go all right but even if it doesn't that won't change anything, we're still going to get married whether she approves or not."

She took a bite of her lunch. "Well that's good to know; I'll try and remember that."

"With my mother you just might have to."

The plane touched down in Cheyenne, Wyoming, it pulled up to the gate and the passengers started to leave. Min and Johnny were walking hand in hand down the long aisle and she suddenly stopped in mid walk.

"Are you sure I look all right?" Min looked down at herself, she was wearing a pair of black jeans and a white button down long-sleeved shirt, she had her heavy brown coat draped over her other arm.

Johnny looked her up and down. "You look great, what about me?"

He was dressed in blue jeans and a black and white checkered flannel shirt. "I think you look very nice."

"Good, now that we have that settled, let's go."

Min nodded and once again they walked down the white walled aisle, there were a pair of glass doors at the end and a large crowd was waiting for the passengers. They could see several people including a middle aged woman; she had ash blonde hair that was very short. She had a slim build and was about the same height as Min, she was dressed in a fluffy white turtleneck sweater and a pair of black corduroy pants.  They made it to the doors and a flight attendant was kind enough to hold them open. The couple walked out and the woman practically ran over to them and threw her arms around her son.

"Johnny! Oh it's so _good_ to see you!" 

He let go of Min's hand and patted his mother on the back.

"It's good to see you too Mom." They let go of each other and Johnny picked up Min's hand. "Mom I want you to meet Min Duke, Min this is Gloria Roderick Gage, my mother."

The older woman looked her up and down and smiled. "It's nice to finally meet you Min." She shook the young woman's hand gently. "Johnny has told me a lot about you."

Min felt her face grow warm. "It's nice to meet you too." She took a good look at Gloria and she could see Johnny easily in her face, they both shared the same eyes although hers were blue and they had the same nose. Johnny saw the way the two women were looking at each other and he cleared his throat.

"Well now that intros are over we better go get our bags." 

"Of course, the baggage terminal is this way." Gloria pointed to the other end of the terminal and started walking; Min sighed as she squeezed Johnny's hand and followed his mother.

The drive to Hollister was less than thirty minutes, Gloria drove her Jeep Wrangler right through the main part of town and Min was surprised that the town square was so small, it reminded her of Hazzard. The two sides of the street had about a dozen shops combined; there was one of all the necessary shops and a few antique shops.

"Reminds me of Hazzard Square."

"What was that Dear?" Gloria looked in the rear view mirror at Min.

"Oh I was just saying how much this reminds me of my hometown, it only has about a couple of hundred people."

"Hollister has about that many, give or take a dozen."

They drove through the town square and took a side road that was long and winding, it led to a log cabin that seemed to be in a carved out area of the thick dense woods. It was an A frame structure made of a medium yellow wood that reminded Min of dark mustard. Gloria parked her Wrangler at the foot of stairs that led to the porch. 

"Well here we are, home sweet home." 

Min looked up at the cabin; it was pure yellow with many windows and a balcony that was on the second floor. "Nice cabin."

Gloria heard her as she unlocked the back of the Jeep. "Thank you Min, Evan built it a long time ago."

Johnny had gotten out of the passenger side and took the two medium sized suitcases out of the back. "He built it when I was a baby."

"Of course, I've changed the décor since you left Johnny you probably won't recognize it. I had my friend from Harford come out here and decorate it for me."

The threesome walked up the stairs to the porch; it had a wooden swing at one end and a set of black wrought iron patio furniture at the other end.

"Come on in and make yourselves comfy." She set her purse down on a maroon couch. "I wasn't sure how the sleeping arrangements were going to be so I changed the linen in the two spare bedrooms." 

Johnny walked into the living room and looked around. She was right it had changed a lot since he had last been home. 

The living room was done in shades of maroon and wine. The center of the living room had a large area rug that was wine colored with a dark border, it went with the couch and the matching love seat. There was also a maroon recliner in front of it was a coffee table that was the same dark yellow as the cabin itself. There was a pair of matching end tables on both sides of the couch; each one had a wine colored lamp with matching shade. The room had a nice fireplace that was between the recliner and the small entertainment center that had a TV. 

"You're right Mom this place has changed."

"I told you I had it redone, so how do we handle the sleeping arrangements?" She looked at Min who turned and looked at Johnny. She had a look of panic on her face and widened her eyes at him, she was not about to answer his mother's question.

"Min and I will be sharing one of the spare rooms." Johnny had gotten the hint and Min was so glad that he did. Gloria was about to say something about them sharing a room but Johnny gave her a look, a look that meant that said they were going to share a room no matter what her argument might have been.

"That's fine; let me show it to you." Gloria climbed the stairs to the second floor and went to the end of the hall; she opened a door and went inside. 

"This used to be my sewing room but I changed it."

Min stepped in and gasped, it was a beautiful room that had the same shiny hardwood floor that was in the living room, there was a king size bed in the middle of the room with a maroon comforter, a set of nightstands and a fan in the ceiling. There was a door that led out to the balcony and Min walked over to it and opened it. She stepped outside and breathed in the air amazed at the breathtaking view.

"Wow this is amazing!" She pulled out one of the white wooden chairs away from the table and sat down.

"Isn't it though?" Johnny walked out onto the balcony and sighed; the air was still just as sweet as he remembered.

"So where is your room?"

"It's the first door we passed, I wanted this one but Mom wouldn't let me. She said I would use this balcony to sneak out at night since the master bedroom is downstairs it would have been the perfect crime."

Gloria walked outside and rubbed her arms. "It's getting cooler; pretty soon we'll be able to start a fire."

Johnny sat down in the other chair and put his feet up on the table. "Now this is a vacation."

Gloria was in the kitchen starting dinner, it was a little after six and she was marinating meat for the BBQ grill.

"Need any help?"

Gloria turned to see Min was looking around the kitchen. There was a white fridge, a small wooden dining room set, a white stove and a sink surrounded by cabinets; all the wood in the whole cabin seemed to match the wood it was made from. 

"Sure, you can set the table, plates are in the far right cabinet and the silverware is in the drawer right below it."

"Okay." Min walked around her and got out three plates, she set them down on the little dining set and took out three steak knives and three forks.

"So where is Johnny?"

"Napping, he told me to wake him when the steaks were ready to cook." Min set the table and was folding napkins in half and putting the silverware on top of it; when she was done she pulled out a chair and sat down.

"So what is it that you do Min?"

"My brother and I own a nightclub, its country and western."

"You have a brother, is he older or younger?"

"Older, my two cousins also live in LA."

"And what do they do?"

"Daisy owns a dress shop and Luke owns a sporting good store."

"Any other family members?"

"No it's just the four of us. We had an Uncle, he was the one we lived with in Hazzard, when he died we all left Georgia and came to LA."

Gloria finished with her meat and washed her hands; she turned around and looked at the young woman that was sitting behind her. "How did he die?"

"In his sleep, he had cancer."

"I'm sorry about that."

Min nodded, her face growing a little sad. Uncle Jesse had died a little over three years ago but the wound it caused was still fresh. "Thank you."

Gloria checked the steaks and saw that they were ready. "You better go wake him up, I'm about to go put these on the grill and they won't take long."

"Okay." Min got up from her chair and headed up the stairs.

"Mom you always could grill a mean steak." Johnny took another bite and sighed as he did so.

"Thank you." Gloria took the sour cream and added a spoonful to her potato. "Johnny how come you never mentioned to me that Min owned a nightclub."

Min looked up from her steak. "Yeah I am wondering that myself."

Johnny swallowed his steak; he had two women gawking at him. "I don't know I guess it just never came up, is there anything else you haven't told me?"

Min started coughing and she dropped her fork and grabbed her napkin.

"Are you all right Dear?"

"Oh yes I'm fine, just a little bit of potato went the wrong way." She looked at Johnny with wide eyes. He saw the look and he stopped eating and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "As a matter of fact Mom there is."

Gloria was cutting her steak. "All right, go ahead and tell me."

Johnny was sitting across from Min and he reached over the table and took her left hand, he turned it so his mother could see it. Gloria saw the beautiful ring that the young woman had on her ring finger and she gasped. "Is that a…?"

Her son nodded. "It's an engagement ring, Mom."

"That is wonderful Johnny!" She covered her mouth with her hands in total surprise; she thought for sure her son would never get married. Her hand slid from her mouth as she picked her napkin and dabbed her eyes with it. "So when is the wedding?"

Johnny looked at his future wife. "It's your turn."

Min smiled at her fiancé and turned her attention to her future mother-in-law. "The wedding is in three months."

Gloria's eyes grew as round as a dinner plate. "The wedding is in April?"

"April 15th."

"I don't know what to say, I'm just so surprised! Have all of the plans been made?"

Min shook her head. "No, we still have a few things that need to be planned but the two biggest things are done, the hall and the church."

"Do you need help with anything?"

Johnny laughed a little. "Well as a matter fact we did bring some stuff with us."

Gloria clapped her hands together. "Oh I would _love_ to help! We'll get started right after dinner!"

Min carried a very heavy briefcase down from their bedroom and set it down on top of the kitchen table with a loud thud. "Whew this thing weighs a ton!"

Gloria had just finished the last of the dinner dishes and was wiping her hands on a dishtowel. "What in the world is in there?"

"Oh, this and that." She opened up the briefcase and started making little piles. "We've got caterer menus, pictures of flowers that I like, some photos of dresses and pictures of cakes."

"Wow that is a lot, no wonder the briefcase is so heavy." Gloria sat down at the table next to Min and looked at the piles. "So where do you want to start?"

"Umm, how about we start with the flowers? It's the pile in the middle."

Johnny's mother moved that pile closer to the two women and began going through the papers, most of the pictures were of roses. "Let's see here, you really like roses don't you?" 

"Yeah I do, there's something very beautiful and special about roses."

Gloria looked at everything involving the flowers and shook her head. "I don't think roses are a good idea Min, they're very expensive and it's not only the church and the bouquets you have to think about it's the hall too. The flowers alone could cost a small fortune if you use roses!"

The bride-to-be sighed, she really wanted roses but then again they had brought all this stuff along to get Gloria's insight and advice. "Well maybe I can just have the roses in my bouquet and we can use something else for the church and the hall."

"How about carnations? They're pretty and best of all, cheap."

"Yeah carnations are nice; we could probably get twice as many for the same price as roses."

"Right! There you go! What color is the bridesmaids dresses?"

"Lavender."

"Well carnations can be colored; we can have half in white and half dyed lavender. Do you have a photo of what the dresses look like?"

Min went through another pile of papers and took out a few photos. "Here you go, all of the dresses are off the shoulder, including mine and they all have that V-neck to it."

There was a long moment of silence as Gloria studied the photos of the dresses. She went over each one very carefully and finally looked at her future daughter-in-law. "It's not too late to totally change these is it?"

Min looked at her with astonishment, she just had to be kidding but it was obvious that she wasn't. The young woman took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Johnny had already gone to bed and was lying in the dark waiting for Min. He heard the sound of the door opening and her boots on the wooden floor; everything was noisy on a wooden floor no matter how quiet someone tried to be. 

"I'm not asleep."

Min sat down on the edge of the bed. "Oh."

Johnny could tell by her tone of voice that something wasn't right. Min took her boots off and set them down on the side of the bed then she stood up and started unbuttoning her flannel shirt. 

"Min?"

"What?"

He sat up and turned on the nightstand lamp. "What's wrong?"

She took off her flannel shirt and tossed it in the corner; she unzipped her jeans and slid them down her legs. "What makes you think something is wrong?"

"Well for one thing, it got pretty chilly in here and it's not from outside."

She put her nightgown on and climbed into bed, she rolled over onto her side. "Can you turn off the light please?"

Johnny sighed. "I'm _not_ turning off this light until we talk about what is wrong."

"Fine!" Min took the pillow and put it over her head.

He crossed his arms over his chest and waited knowing that it would only be a matter of time before Min spilled her guts. Johnny wasn't normally a patient man but this time he would be.

"All right! All right! We'll talk about it!" She uncovered her head and sat up. 

"Good! I knew you would come around, so what's wrong?"

"Your mother!"

Johnny looked at her puzzled. "My mother? But I thought the two of you were getting along."

Min covered her face for a moment. "We are Johnny; it's just that…she wants to change everything! She didn't like the flowers, the style of the dresses, the menu, anything!"

"Is that what the two of you have been doing for the past three days?"

"Right, I've been trying to please her and so far without much luck. I don't know what to do, she's taken over everything!"

Johnny put his arms around her. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"I don't know I tried to handle it myself but things are just getting worse! I mean I like her Johnny she's a nice lady but I can't take much more of this. I'm afraid that my temper is going to get away from me!"

"Okay, I'll talk to her tomorrow." He still had her in his arms as the two of them laid down together; it only took a few minutes for sleep to come to them both.

"Any luck?" Min was lying down on their bed taking a nap. 

"Nope."

She rolled over and stretched out her arms to him. "Come here." 

He took off his boots and climbed up onto the bed; he laid his head on her chest and sighed. "No luck at all."

Min sighed and stroked his hair. "So what do I do?"

"I wish I knew, maybe you can try and talk to her in a gentle way."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"I could always turn the hose on her."

"Oh you are _hilarious_ Mr. Gage."

"Thank you, I try to be."

Min looked down at him and shook her head. "Try _harder_."

Gloria was sitting down on the couch her coffee table was a sea of papers, she had been doing some planning on her own since Min had decided to go take a nap. She heard the sound of someone coming down the stairs and she looked up to see Min.

"Oh hey you're up! That's great because I've been doing some stuff and I want you to come take a look at it."

Min sighed; she really wasn't in the mood for it. They had been planning for days on end and she wanted to take a break. She sat down on the couch. "Sure, what is it?"

"Since we couldn't agree on the style of dresses, I came up with something I think you'll like. I also had an idea but I want you to look at the dresses first." Gloria handed Min a couple of sketches, one was for the bridesmaids dresses, one was for her. Min looked at them carefully. The dresses were hideous, they had a Victorian style with necklines were all the way up practically to their chins, the sleeves were all the way down to the wrists and the skirt went down to the ankles.

"What do you think?"

Min didn't want to talk about the dresses. "What was your other idea?"

Gloria smiled widely. "Well I was thinking about the decorations and I think it would be really nice if I had a friend come to LA and decorate the hall and the church for you, of course it would mean that you would have to postpone the wedding for a few months but that wouldn't be a big deal."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back, and Min could feel her temper slipping through her fingers like sand as she got up from the couch. 

"Okay that's it! I have been trying for the past few days to be patient with you but I've had it! We are _not_ postponing the wedding just so some Connecticut snob can redecorate the greater Los Angeles area, and I am _not_ putting my friends, my cousin or myself in these god-awful dresses! I'm getting peach roses for my wedding, a whole dump truck full if I want and we're having beef for the reception, are there any questions?"

Gloria sat there completely stunned; she got up from the couch and went down the hall into her bedroom. Min covered her face with her hands, she didn't mean to just explode at the woman but she had been pushed too far. 

Johnny came down the stairs, he had heard his future wife yelling and so did most of Wyoming.

"What's going on in here?"

"You still love me right?"

"Why what did you do?"

Min looked up at him. "I kinda sorta told your mother what I thought of all her wedding plans."

Johnny put his hands on his hips. "I thought we agreed to talk to her about it gently?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry Johnny I didn't mean to be so rough on her but we are not going to postpone the wedding just so someone can decorate the church and there is no way on this planet or any other that we are going to spend over ten thousand dollars for someone else's wedding! I'm going to have the flowers I want and the dresses I want! I'm sorry but that's the way it is." 

"I know and you're right this is our wedding and it should be done the way we want it. I'll go talk to her."

"I wouldn't right now, she's probably pretty angry."

"Maybe…or maybe not, it takes a lot to make my Mom angry."

"Yeah but I bet being yelled at by your future daughter-in-law would do it."

Johnny and Min had decided that the best way to let Gloria cool down was to leave, they donned their heavy coats and borrowed her Wrangler. They stopped off at a little roadside flower stand and bought a bouquet of white roses and headed to Hollister Memorial Cemetery. They drove back through town and drove ten miles past it and down a rocky path that cut straight through the woods. Finally they came to a clearing up ahead and there tucked amongst the thick pine trees.

Min could see the garden of stone. Johnny pulled into the little cemetery and parked the Jeep, his heart was heavy as he got out and walked around to Min's side. She could see the emotion in his face and she took his hand gently.

"Come on, it'll be all right." She gave him a little smile and squeezed his hand.

Johnny returned the squeeze and took a deep breath, they walked through the entrance and down the narrow gravel paved road that cut through the center of the cemetery, there was an icy cold wind that was harsh against their skin as they walked.

"It's just down here." His voice was low, as if he was afraid that speaking too loud was going to wake the dead. They went to almost the end of the road and turned towards the left, they made their way through the frozen yellow grass that crunched slightly under their boots. They came to a stone that was at the end of the row. It was simple, gray, smooth; granite with the name **THOMAS EVAN GAGE** written on it and below it was carved **BELOVED HUSBAND DEVOTED FATHER**, and nothing else. Johnny sighed as he let go of Min's hand and took off his gloves, he squatted down and ran his hand along the name.

"Hi Dad…it's been a long time." 

Min realized that she might be intruding on a private moment so she started to walk away.

"No Min, don't go." She turned back around and saw the tears rolling down his cheeks, it tore at her heart and she nodded slightly; she walked back over and stood with him.

"Dad, this is Min, I'm going to marry her in three months. I know what you must be thinking but believe me she's the one for me and I've never been happier." He sighed as he took the bouquet of white roses and laid them gently on the ground. 

"I miss you so much I wish you could be there in person to watch me get married but I know you'll be there in spirit." He cleared away some of the dead grass that was around the stone and took something out of his pocket, it was a badge and he set it down at the base of the stone.

"This is my first badge from Station 10; I want you to have it. You were the one that encouraged me to do whatever I wanted and all I ever wanted was to become a fireman. I have two titles, fireman and paramedic; I help save peoples lives two different ways now. Sometimes two ways aren't enough and people still die, that's tough but its all part of the job and despite how hard it is at times I love it." He ran his hand along the top of the stone. 

"Someday I hope to be the kind of father that you were, I want to be there for my son the way you were always there for me. Even though our time together was cut short, you're still with me everyday and I hope I make you proud." 

The tears were streaming down his face and Johnny wiped them away casually. "I have to go now but I promise to come more often to see you." He stood up, kissed his fingers and placed them on the stone. "Bye Dad, I love you." He put his hands in his pockets and walked away. Min was crying hard as well, she thought about walking with him but decided that this time she would let him have his private moment.  

Johnny was walking around the cemetery, looking at all the carved headstones, death was completely around him yet there was an odd sense of peace and tranquility amongst the cold hard markers. He found a white marble bench and sat down on it, next to him was a stone that had a mother and a father buried side by side; he looked at the dates and saw that the couple had spent over 50 years together. The stone said that the couple had three children; he sighed and covered his face for a moment. It made him think about his father, how young he was when he was killed and how there was a huge cloud of mystery as to exactly what had happened to him. Johnny knew that someday he would have to look into what had happened but it was something that would keep, for now he would live in the present, the past would have to wait until another time. 

The sound of driver side door slamming woke Min up with a start and she rubbed her eyes.

"Johnny?"

"Yeah…" He started up the Wrangler and started to put in gear, she reached down and put her hand on top of his. He turned and looked at her and she could see the dried remains of tears on his cheeks and the redness that was in his eyes. 

"Are you all right? You were gone an awfully long time."

"Yeah I'm fine, it's always been hard for me when it comes to my dad.  He died a long time ago but sometimes it feels like it just happened yesterday. I thought that it would be easier to deal with as I got older but I was wrong."

Min nodded. "I know, I thought the same way but even to this day talking about my father upsets me. I guess that when you lose a parent its something that you never get over."

Johnny sighed. "And speaking of which I got a parent at home that isn't too happy right now."

"Yeah but it's because of me not you. I'm the one that is going to have to talk to her."

"Are you sure I shouldn't be the one?" He started up the Wrangler and backed up slowly.

"No, like I said I was the one that ran off at the mouth I'll take care of it."

Gloria was in her room on her big king size bed, it was surrounded by two cherry wood nightstands and there was a tan stone fireplace at the foot of the bed against the far wall and a huge cherry wood dresser against the other wall. The entire room was done in hunter green and everything from the curtains to the area rug matched. She was sitting on her bed looking at an old photo album she got out of her bottom dresser drawer; she was looking at Johnny's baby photos. There was a soft knock on the door and she closed the photo album.

"Who is it?"

"It's Min Gloria; can I come in and talk to you?"

Gloria sighed and reopened the album; Min was the last person that she wanted to talk. "Come in."

Min came into the room and looked around. "Nice room, I like this color."  
"Thank you." She had all the warm of a frozen fish stick and Min couldn't help but notice the icy tone of her voice. 

"Can I sit down?"

"If you want."

Min sat on the edge of her bed and took a quick glimpse of the photos Gloria was looking at; they were pictures of a little baby. "Is that Johnny?" 

"Yes."

Min craned her neck a little and saw some of the photos; the little dark haired baby was absolutely adorable. "Aww, what a cutie!"

Gloria saw her trying to see so she moved the album a little in her direction; she did this as indiscreetly as she could. "He was a beautiful baby, everybody said so." She turned the page and there was a young man with long black hair and dark skin. He looked exactly like Johnny and Min thought that's who it was.

"What about this one? How old was Johnny in this one?" She pointed to the photo at the bottom of the page.

"That's not Johnny." The older woman ran her finger along the photo and sighed. "That's Evan."

Min gasped, the resemblance was remarkable, so much so that it gave her a chill and every hair on the back of her neck stood up. "My God it's uncanny! They look so much alike!"

"I know…sometimes Johnny will do or say something and he will remind me so much of his father that it'll frighten me." 

Gloria was looking at that photo with great affection; Min could see how much she missed her husband. "You miss him, don't you?"

"Every minute of every day."

"We went to the cemetery. Johnny showed me his grave, it really upset him."

"He was pretty close to his dad; his death hurt him very much."

"It does hurt a lot to lose a parent, I never knew my dad."

Gloria looked surprised. "I didn't know that, how old were you when he died?"

"I was a newborn."

"I'm sorry."

Min saw her chance to apologize and she took it. "So am I, not only for Evan but for earlier. I didn't mean to bite your head off; I know you were only trying to help."

To her surprise, Gloria reached over and squeezed her hand. "It's all right Honey, I got overzealous. You asked me for advice and I took over everything."

"Will you still come?"

She turned and looked at Min as though she had just turned into a grizzly bear right before her eyes. "Of _course_ I am going to come! I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

Min smiled at the older woman. "Good because we both want you to be there."

"Here, take a look at some more photos. I'm sure there are a few ones in here that would embarrass Johnny." 

Min took the album and turned it to the first page. "Oh good those are the best kind."

Johnny had gotten a banana out of the kitchen and began peeling it. He heard a lot of laughter coming from his mother's bedroom and he sighed in relief, it meant that Min and his mother had made up. He walked over to the door and knocked on it.

"Hello in there…what are you two up to?"

_"Well open the door and find out!"_

Johnny did as his mother asked and opened the door; he was his fiancée with a photo album in her lap and his mother sitting next to her. "Oh no don't tell me you are showing her my baby pictures."

Min turned to look at the older woman and winked at her. "Only the naked ones of you lying on a bearskin rug."

His face turned a thousand shades of red and he walked into the room and snatched up the album. He looked down at the photos and the two women burst into laughter.

"I _knew_ that would get him!"

He didn't find a naked photo of himself as a baby and handed the album back to his fiancée. "Oh ha, ha, ha, after you are done with the pictures I thought I would show you my room."

Min flipped to the last page and smiled. "God you were cute! I wonder what happened?"

Gloria snickered and covered her mouth, she saw the look her son gave her and she cleared her throat. "Oh now Min he's still just as cute as he was back then."

"Actually I think he's cuter." She gave her fireman a wink; she closed the album and handed it to her future mother-in-law. "Thank you for showing these to me."

"No problem, I'm going to go get dinner started." Gloria set the album down and left the room.

"Come on let's go see my bedroom."

Johnny stretched out his hand and Min took it, he pulled her off the bed and they left the master bedroom. 

"Nice room, just like I pictured it." Min had her hands on her hips as she looked around the small room. The walls were covered with posters of firemen in full gear, fire trucks, and a few ambulances. In the corner of the room beside the twin bed with a dark blue comforter was a toy fire station complete with two bright red toy fire trucks. There was a small cherry wood desk and a small cherry wood dresser along the right wall next to the closet door, Min opened the door and saw a few more fire engines sitting on the closet shelf. 

"As you can see I've always wanted to be a fireman."

"Boy I'll say you did!"

Min closed the door and walked over to the dresser. She picked up a small framed photo and saw a little boy sitting on a man's lap.

"This is you and your father isn't it?"

Johnny saw what she was holding and nodded. "Yeah, we look a lot alike don't we?"

"You could be twins."

The little boy had on a black fireman's helmet, a bright yellow coat, and a pair of black boots. 

"When was this taken?"

"Halloween, a couple of years before he died."

Min handed him the photo. "Why don't we take it home with us?"

"Yeah, I think I will."

She sat down on the bed and patted the area next to her. "Care to join me?"

Johnny accepted her invitation and sighed. "So what do you think?"

"Of this room?" She looked at it once more and shook her head. "I think you knew what you wanted to be your whole life."

Johnny nodded. "It's true I did, and in three months I'll get something else I always wanted."

Min creased her brow. "And what's that?"

The fireman reached down and picked up her hand and squeezed it. "The _person_ I've wanted my whole life."

She looked at him her eyes full of affection. "I think that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."

He smiled widely at her. "I meant it, and in three months I'll prove it."

"We'll both prove it." Min put her arms around Johnny's neck and kissed him. 

END.


End file.
